It’s been hard to figure out what the role of Google+ has been in social media marketing through 2012. While it has grown quickly, it is somewhat of a ‘ghost town’ that hasn’t yielded near the engagement or traffic that other social media sites have. However, with some of the recent updates, Google+ may be poised for a huge impact this year. Here are 3 reasons to be excited about using Google+ for SEO this year if you are a marketer.
Google+ For SEO | Google+ Local
No one uses the Yellow Pages anymore. Studies have shown that upwards of 92% of people searching for a business do so online. Above all else, though, as Google is the dominant search engine and thus dominant place for local searching, this development will have a large impact on local search going forward. Google+ Local is a simple way to discover and share local information featuring Zagat scores and recommendations from people you trust in Google+. When it comes to displaying local search results, these still appear in the Google Places section, but when you click on a local result, it opens in the Local section of Google+. Positive reviews and ratings, as well as Google+ shares, are likely to improve your listing’s rankings on Google, as well as increase the chances of it appearing in the search results as part of the Knowledge Graph. If you’re a local brick and mortar business, you really can’t afford NOT to have a presence on Google+ Local.
Google+ For SEO |Google+ Communities
Google+ has created a new communities platform that allows people of similar interests, whether personal or professional, to congregate, share photos and links, ask questions, promote upcoming events, and much more.
Here’s what I like about Google+ Communities versus Facebook Groups or even the G+ Circles:
1. Easy to moderate. Suspected ‘spam’ comments will show up at the top of your stream if you’re moderating a Community. You can instantly decide to allow or remove a potentially spammy post. Unlike Facebook, this function will allow you to keep out spammers and create communities of value.
2. Subcategories. Subcategories allow you to create a broad group and, within this group, create related and more specific categories. For example, if you like real estate, you can create a real estate group for sellers, buyers, other investors, raising capital, Realtors, networking, etc… within one large group.
3. Photos and videos look better than FB. Facebook Timeline was supposed to be the digital representation of your life, yet photos and infographics typically don’t show up as well as they do in Google+. And the videos load so much quicker than on Facebook!
Below is a video detailing more information on Google+ Communities:
Google+ For SEO |Google AuthorRank
Consider Google AuthorRank to be PageRank for people. Google uses various algorithms to collect and rank content. Since Google is always searching to improve their ranking system, it almost seems inevitable that Google will begin incorporating AuthorRank into their complex algorithms. Just like any other SEO method, AuthorRank isn’t something that happens overnight. It will need to be a gradual and natural process where real writers write quality content, which is exactly what Google wants.
It will take constant attention. In fact, many experts trying to prepare SEO professionals and individual website owners for the introduction of AuthorRank recommend you follow a daily routine in order to help improve your AuthorRank. Things like checking your Google+ at least 5 times per day, writing quality content such as your own personal blog, and visiting blogging sites that you guest write for while leaving quality replies are all helpful in increasing your AuthorRank. While this may sound like a lot of work, it will be smart to get ahead of the Google AuthorRank curve as you’ll greatly benefit once it is officially added to Google’s algorithms.
Here’s a nice chart that shows how Google+ will be a part of determining Google AuthorRank